The trade deficit declined to $3,54 million in August from $4,422 million in July, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Tuesday.

Exports went down to $7,06 million from last month's $7,34 million while imports fell slightly to $10,604 million from $11,722 million in July.

The commodity group with the highest annual increment in the value of exports in August was electronic products with $303.79 million. This was followed by gold with an annual increase of $160.37 million, and other mineral products with an annual increment of $112.09 million

By major trading partner, exports to the Hong Kong comprised the highest export value amounting to $1.19 billion or a share of 16.9 percent to the country’s total exports in August.

Completing the top five major export trading partners for this month with their export values and percent shares to the total exports were:

a. United States of America (USA), $1.09 billion (15.4%);

b. Japan, $979.00 million (13.9%);

c. People’s Republic of China, $849.32 million (12.0%); and

d. Republic of China (Taiwan), $292.18 million (4.1%).

The commodity group with the highest import value in August was electronic products, which amounted to $2.74 billion or a share of 25.8 percent to the country’s total imports.

This was followed by mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials at $1.18 billion (11.1 percent), and transport equipment at $883.37 million (8.3 percent).

People’s Republic of China was the country’s largest supplier of imported goods valued at $3.19 billion or 30.1 percent of the country’s total imports in August.

Completing the top five major import trading partners with their corresponding import values and percent shares to the total imports were:

a. Republic of Korea, $848.93 million (8.0 percent);

b. Indonesia, $838.78 million (7.9 percent);

c. Japan, $731.06 million (6.9 percent); and

d. USA, $698.41 million (6.6 percent). DMS